Guitar Groove: A Session with
Brooks Williams
Are you stuck strumming chords in first position wondering how on earth you can ever learn to play like guitarists you admire? We’ve all been there, but now you have the chance to get this new DVD to help you to improve your playing. Brooks Williams aims to have you playing up the neck, adding tricks and riffs to your chords, and getting into rhythmic grooves that will allow you to accompany others professionally. On this DVD, he hits the mark.
Williams assumes only that you know basic “cowboy chords” and are at least familiar with the most common bar chords. (Don’t worry if you have trouble playing them!) From this humble start, he slowly adds in new ideas and moves, each of which is designed to move your playing along in ways you may not have thought possible. He has a wonderfully informal style of teaching that emphasizes his laid-back enthusiasm rather than trying to dazzle you with his chops. His focus is always on your playing, not his, and the entire session focuses on playing rather than theory, although the concepts are easily extended if you do have some theory background.
So what will you learn?
- moving chords around the neck by finding new positions
- playing partial chords for better musical effect
- playing groove rhythms from some of Williams’ most popular songs
- adding motion to chords with hammer-ons , pull-off, and slides
- keeping a steady bass under moving chord forms
- some standard lead riffs, fills, and breaks
- 3 pretty cool tunes by Brooks Williams
While many of the chord forms and riffs concentrate on left hand placement, the right hand is not ignored. Williams demonstrates fingerpicking, using a flatpick, and hybrid picking using a pick and the middle and ring fingers.
Absolute beginners may be a bit confused if they do not know what a ‘triad’ is (a chord consisting of three notes) or that major and minor chords are made up of three different notes, while seventh chords are made up of four. However, the demonstrations are very clear, and any confusing jargon can safely be skipped over. In a similar vein, you might need to watch closely if you are not used to muting strings with your left or right hands, but Williams demonstrates the techniques clearly and repeatedly.
I was hoping to find a PDF file on the DVD but there was none. Instead, a large format booklet has the tab for the examples as well as the wonderful rhythm charts that Williams uses to teach “how to groove”. These are bound to be terrifically helpful to beginners, who can learn the groove at slow speed and gradually bring them up to tempo.
Williams performs the three songs that he teaches on the DVD, “Knife Edge”, “Rich Tonight”, and "Belfast Blues", before breaking them down into their components, which he then teaches one by one. What sounds impossible to a beginner at first soon becomes possible! The performances show what a fine showman Williams is, and the final one is a searing rendition of his most requested song “Belfast Blues”. “Wow,” I thought “how is he ever going to teach this to a beginner?” Well, slowly, of course, and only the first three basic sections. This is enough for a performance that will definitely move you beyond the “strummin’ cowboy chords” stage.
This DVD is a no-brainer for anyone who is stuck at the strumming stage and itching to get better. Williams is a charismatic teacher whose warm and non-threatening style gently coaxes you along until you suddenly notice that you are playing like you never have before. Whether you aspire to be a solo player, an accompanist, a rhythm player in a band, or even just to play for your own amusement, this DVD will show you a whole new world of the guitar. Try it, and you can join me in saying: “Thank you Brooks Williams! You are passing on a great tradition!”
Check out more information on the DVD and buy it at Woodhall Music Canada’s web site: http://woodhallmusic.com .
And keep an eye on that web site. I sure will. With this as their very first guitar DVD, we should be seeing some more great releases from Woodhall Music before long!